June 10

We slept in just a little bit and was thinking about getting ready to leave when we got an email from Tina, our Airbnb host, letting us know we didn’t have to check out until 1:30 (usual time is 10).  Of course we took her up on that offer and headed for the beach.  In theory, we are traveling light so each of us have a backpack and we are very neat and tidy and clean up after ourselves as we go, so we could leave quickly if we needed.  

The waves were a bit more this AM and the lifeguard had to warn several beach goers of the dangers.  In order to actually get into the water, you walk through hot sand and then shallow water with sand and then a lava field!  It’s only about 3-4 feet of lava rocks, but this field is the edge of a “drop off” which you don’t know about until you just drop!! The rest is mostly sand interspersed with rocks—and lovely shades of blues.

A group of young ‘ens, we estimate ages 10-14, jogged by.  We guessed maybe junior lifeguard training as it looked similar to something we saw while in California. There were two lifeguards keeping the pace with them.

Then a LARGE herd of littles arrived, maybe 50, and all small—so we assumed quite young.  They arrived orderly and sat orderly, awaiting further instructions.  Then the adults, maybe 25, all carrying life guard floaters, stepped into the water and made a huge circle. The littles then could run into the water! Oh, the sheer glee of their laughter!! They just had to stay within this human circle!! Some stayed closer to the beach area (We don’t think they had a lava rock edge based on how easily they entered and exited the water.). As stated prior, today was a really wavy day and a larger wave came in and literally rolled most of them onto the beach!! They laughed and laughed and ran out for more! It was fun to watch.  We thought the giant circle was a great idea!  We are assuming it was some kind of water safety class due to the amount of actual life guards present.  Of course, maybe day care providers in Hawaii have to be lifeguard certified too?? 

We headed back to head out.  This was a great and super affordable place to stay.  There was a bed and a pull out sofa sleeper and it was clean and comfy and close to what we needed to do.

As we were driving to our next destination, we noticed farmers in the fields. Most of the fields are dry and brown (The island has a “lush” green side and a dryer side as the geography quite often prevents rain from crossing the mountains/volcanoes.)  Some of the fields looked like sad sugar cane fields—we researched and sugar cane is normally planted by shoots, NOT seeds! They can manually plant these shoots and you can harvest sugar cane (It can also be done by machine now.) many times but most farmers only harvest 2-3 as each time the yield is smaller.  The magic of sugar! REAL sugar.  :)

We then headed to the summit of Haleakalā, which is a massive shield volcano that forms more than 75% of Maui!  When we biked down yesterday, we stopped right outside this national park at about 7,000 feet altitude.  Upon entering the park, we drove to the top via winding roads, clouds (!), and cooler temperatures, to the summit of 10,023 feet! There was a sign making sure we were aware of altitude sickness symptoms!  From here we looked down into a massive depression some 7 miles across.  The landscape looked like something from a science fiction movie—barren, with limited vegetation and volcanic rocks.  It was stark but beautiful.

This area also boasts the 4th best viewing conditions on the planet to study the sky!  It is home to the Haleakalā Observatory! Here, above the clouds, it is clear and dry with minimal air and light pollution. The white domes house powerful telescopes for both the defense and scientific communities. Too cool. 

We drove down a few hundred feet and stopped to hike a short distance up to the top of a volcanic cinder cone, officially called Pa Ka’oao.  There were longer hikes we could have taken but we’ll leave those for another day.  Due to our altitude, the people returning from one looked like little ants—following a trail through the barren sandy landscape.

We drove down and down and ultimately drove by the Baldwin Ranch in Olinda. The Baldwin family first arrived as missionaries and ultimately owned/ranched most of Maui; they do still exist but they don’t own it all anymore! Olinda is a very small agricultural and residential community.  Mark Twain once lived on Olinda Road! And the Rainbow Bridge concert (and movie) by Jimi Hendrix  was held in a cow field just off Olinda Road.  

We meandered to the airport, stopping by a post office to mail a box home, looking everywhere for normal s ized post cards, and popping into a local restaurant for a couple of quesadillas (YUMMY!).  

Our next stop is the big island, the largest final the islands but certainly not the most populated as there are only about 185,000 people.  Oahu, which is where Honolulu is. Has slightly over a million people.  Maui, since we are comparing, has about 156,000.